He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. In a desert or newly colonized country overrun by wild beasts there was ample scope for the sportsman's skill and daring; and Nimrod, as leader in the chase, acquired a wide-spread fame by the boldness of his exploits, as well as his dexterity in the use of ingenious and successful stratagems. The adjunct "before the Lord" - literally, in the presence of Yahweh-has been variously interpreted. [The Septuagint adds 'Elohiym (H430) after Yahweh (H3068).] By one class it is taken in a bad sense, as in the Septuagint х enantion (G1726) Kuriou (G2962)], in the face, in spite of, against Yahweh. This also is the view of Josephus and the Jewish Targumists, who unite in regarding Nimrod as the originator of a systematic opposition to the true God. By another class it is believed to bear a good meaning, as implying favour and approval for employing the great powers which he had received as gifts from God in the performance of useful and important services to society, by clearing the country from ferocious beasts. But, since it is not the manner of the sacred historian to make reflections on the character of persons introduced into his narrative, the probability is, that there is no expression of moral approbation, and that the phrase, "before the Lord," is used only as a common Hebrew idiom, to heighten the personal qualities of Nimrod (cf. Jonah 3:3, where Nineveh is called "an exceeding great city" - literally, a great city before God).
Altogether, the Scripture account conveys the impression that he was a remarkable man, who, along with the possession of physical qualities such as extraordinary strength and stature, which procured him the epithet of the Hebrew gibowr (H1368), the 'mighty' [the Septuagint, gigas, and Arabic, El Jabbar, the giant], was endowed also with great energy of mind. It is a laconic, but very significant account, and evidently implies that, like the apostles, who were first fishers, then fishers of men, Nimrod, from being a mighty hunter of beasts, became a mighty ruler of men, giving laws, maintaining military discipline, and establishing a political organization.
In short, he laid the foundation of his great authority and dominion in the same way as the Assyrian and Persian monarchs, at a later date, were trained to war and government, by hunting in the field. He impressed his own character upon that of his age; and, having lived at a period when the worship of departed heroes was introduced, his apotheosis took place immediately after his death, under the name of Baal (Bilu-nipru, the Hunter Lord, in the cuneiform inscriptions); and, according to the Eastern traditions, he was represented in the Zabian mythology as the constellation Orion with the belt, the dog, and the hare.